Silverstreaks The Osakis baseball team was in an unenviable position going into the Section 5A title game last Thursday night.
The Silverstreaks worked their way into the championship with a 7-6, come-from-behind victory over Ogilvie last Wednesday. That set up a rematch with Eden Valley-Watkins in the title game....
Alexandria, 56308

Alexandria Minnesota 225 7th Ave E P.O. Box 549 56308

2013-08-24 10:02:15

The Osakis baseball team was in an unenviable position going into the Section 5A title game last Thursday night.

The Silverstreaks worked their way into the championship with a 7-6, come-from-behind victory over Ogilvie last Wednesday. That set up a rematch with Eden Valley-Watkins in the title game.

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Osakis needed to beat the Eagles twice on Thursday to advance to the state tournament. The undefeated and top-ranked team in Class A wanted no part of a second game, though, as they used three runs in the middle innings and a dominant pitching performance to win 3-0.

Matt Geislinger threw a complete game two-hitter to send the Eagles into the state tournament. He walked three and struck out nine. Dominic Baker and Ben Anderson got the only hits for Osakis.

Devin Waldvogel matched him pitch for pitch through three innings. In the fourth, Tyler Geislinger brought in the first run with a double down the left field line. He later came home on a Brendan Ashton single to make it 2-0. The Eagles added another run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give Geislinger a little more breathing room.

Waldvogel threw a complete game for Osakis. He kept a potent Eagles' lineup off balance most of the night, scattering five hits and two walks, while striking out two.

Eden Valley-Watkins was just a little too much on this night. The Eagles came into the tournament as the favorites to advance out of Section 5A after going 19-0 during the regular season. They almost fell in the opening round, holding off Kimball 9-8. They allowed just three runs in four games after that.

Osakis proved to be the other top team in the section. The Silverstreaks bounced back after a 12-2 loss to Eden Valley-Watkins in the subsection championship and won in walk-off fashion against Ogilvie to set up a rematch with the Eagles.

Osakis trailed 4-1 against the Lions before a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh capped off the comeback. The Silverstreaks were down 6-5 going into the final frame. Colter Fortenberry started a rally with a walk to begin the inning. Two batters later, Doug Zimmel came up with Fortenberry on third and lined a shot to left that was misplayed, allowing the tying run to score. Adam Sadlemyer and Todd Berberich followed with a walk and a base hit to load the bases.

That brought up Waldvogel with an opportunity to send his team home as walk-off winners. He did not disappoint, drawing his fourth walk of the day to bring in pinch runner Kilar Zimmel for the winning run.

The win set a new school record for most wins in a season at Osakis. The Silverstreaks finished a memorable year with an 18-4-1 record. They won the Prairie Conference with a 7-1 mark. All of this came just a year after finishing 5-11 overall and 3-5 in league play.

A strong group of seniors played a big role in the Silverstreaks' turnaround. Anderson, Baker, Berberich, Fortenberry, Sadlemyer and Roggenbuck all played their final game in an Osakis uniform against the Eagles.